Business Description
Little City Love is a greeting card and stationery brand. We believe words have power. We seek to empower people to speak from their hearts and express themselves authentically, through writing and meaningful dialogue. Over the last two years, we have grown out of a tiny room in a basement, to an apartment, and finally to a three-room office in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
With two full-time owners, one employee, and two interns, this adds up to a lot of passion, time, and energy. One can typically find Clay and I in our office from sunrise to sundown. Our cards are each sleeved, quality checked, and packaged by hand; so someone is almost always packing. On top of that, Clay is always imagining and making new products — whether that’s sketching a new illustration, putting together designs, or painting new concepts. Thanks to Clay, we now have close to 300 products, carried in over 50 stores.
When we aren’t packing cards, Clay and I are both passionate volunteers in our local community. We believe in the importance of giving back, and that’s why we dedicate a lot of time to organizing entrepreneurial events that help start new businesses. Our company wouldn’t have happened without inspiration from our community, so we hope to pass on that inspiration to others.
For us, the dream is to grow. We dream of spreading more love, sharing more words, and maybe having a little more time to read.
What is the purpose of this loan?
Little City Love has grown to over 50 stores nationwide in less than two years, despite never attending a trade show. In our industry, trade shows are absolutely vital for expansion, and many businesses rate them as the number one most important thing to do for growth. Because these shows are so important, they are expensive and cost in the thousands to attend. We hope to use the five thousand dollars to attend two shows. This loan will help subsidize the cost of our booths and enable us to share our products with the right people, at the right place, and at the right time. That’s why we’re asking for help from the Kiva community. If successful, this will be a game-changer for our business.